with no presidential election, no stimulus programs on the horizon and healthcare reform upheld, 2013 should be smooth sailing for the economy, right? to almost no one's surprise, it's not that simple. despite that, in our cover story, we found a few people willing to stick their necks out and share with us their predictions. most everyone we found had reason for measured optimism. housing prices, for example, are going up. "there's hope that you can climb out. that's just a game- changer." and that opens up housing- related investment, which in turn may help stocks. "i see certain sectors helping the stock market. i see that true of the housing sector. look at real estate, look at building supplies, things that have been down in the past." as for jobs, john challenger says though the economy has been adding an average of 150,000 jobs a month, we may not need that many to make unemployment itself go down. the reason - baby boomers. "there are many more baby boomers retiring, so we don't need nearly as many new jobs as we did a decade ago." as for overseas trade, china's economy is pre